BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Jean Phillipe Smet
Description: Vocalist, France
Known For: First album – “Hello Johnny” – (1960)
Instruments: Voice
Music Styles: Easy Listening
Location: France
Born: 15th June 1943
Location Born: Paris, France
Died: 6 December 2017 (aged 74)
Marnes-la-Coquette, France
CONTACT DETAILS
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Johnny Halliday
Jean-Philippe Smet (born 15 June 1943), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he has been called “the French Elvis”.
He was married for 15 years to popular Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan and the two were considered a “golden couple” for 20 years. Hallyday has completed 181 tours, had 18 platinum albums, and has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time.Hallyday announced in March 2012 that he would perform in Los Angeles on 24 April, in Quebec City on 10 July, and in New York City on 7 October, and he has continued to tour throughout the world (including Europe, North America, and Asia) through 2014.
Hallyday remains largely unknown outside of the Francophone world of France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Guyana, Southeast Asia and Africa, thus earning the nickname “the biggest rock star you’ve never heard of” in English-speaking countries. Nevertheless, at an international level he is still considered as the only non-Anglophone rock musician having a large international reputation. He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d’honneur in 1997.
Hallyday’s father, Léon Smet (1908–1989), was Belgian; his mother, Huguette Clerc (1920–2007), was French. Born in cité Malesherbes (fr), Paris, Hallyday took his stage name from his aunt Desta’s husband and dance partner Lee Hallyday, a pseudonym for Lee Ketcham, an expatriate Oklahoman, performer, and MC at the Cafe de Paris where Johnny began his singing career. Johnny was raised by Desta and Lee from a very young age, with Lee being his first manager. Johnny was always very loyal to Lee and secured him a permanent job as a producer and A&R man with his label, Philips Records until Lee’s retirement and relocation back to Oklahoma.
Influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock revolution, Hallyday became famous in the 1960s for singing rock and roll in French. His debut single, “Laisse les filles” was released on the Vogue label in March 1960. His first album, Hello Johnny, was released in 1960. In 1961 his cover of “Let’s Twist Again” sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.It topped almost every European chart, although the track did not appear in the UK Singles Chart. He appeared on the American The Ed Sullivan Show with American singing star Connie Francis in a show that was taped at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris. He also staged many appearances in the Paris Olympia under the management of the late Bruno Coquatrix. For their first concert, The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for Johnny Hallyday in Évreux on 13 October 1966. Black-and-white footage, also from October 1966, exists of Hallyday partying with Hendrix, his manager Chas Chandler and others. There also is a widely-published monochrome photograph of Hallyday walking somewhere in Paris in late May 1966 with Bob Dylan.
Personal life
Hallyday was introduced to the great chanteuse Édith Piaf in the late fifties and became one of her biggest fans up until her death in 1963. He attended every concert she performed in and was said to have been friends with her throughout his career. In a recent article he claimed that Édith tried to seduce him during a dinner with her in 1960, and resulted in him fleeing from her in despair, but a 1962 photograph of Édith, her husband Théo Sarapo, and Hallyday shows that she earned his trust back. Hallyday performed Édith’s 1950 hit “Hymne à l’amour” in 1995.
In November 2005, Hallyday started a procedure to obtain Belgian citizenship but his request was turned down in 2006 because he failed to fulfill the residence requirements. In late 2006, Hallyday announced that he would move his permanent residency to Gstaad, Switzerland to escape the high tax rate imposed by the French government. Swiss law allows wealthy individuals to claim residency if they live six months and one day in the country and then pay a fixed tax based on expenses, such as rent or assets in Switzerland, rather than a percentage of their income. Hallyday has said that he would move his residency back to France if it changes its tax laws.
He maintains a second home in Los Angeles, where he has been spending increasing amounts of time in recent years, enjoying his relative anonymity in the U.S. In January 2014, Johnny revealed that his current residence was in fact in the United States after an investigation by Swiss journalist showed that Mr. Hallyday did not spend enough time in Gstaad, Switzerland to qualify as a resident. One of his favorite leisure activities is riding his Harley-Davidson on long trips through the California desert, staying in small motels along the way.
Hallyday married Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan on 12 April 1965. Their son David was born on 14 August 1966. Hallyday and Vartan divorced in 1980. He was then briefly married to Babeth Étienne; the marriage lasted two months and two days, ending in February 1982. A four-year relationship with French actress Nathalie Baye followed; their daughter Laura Smet was born on 15 November 1983. He was married to his third wife Adeline Blondieau for two years, divorcing her in 1992. He has been married to Laeticia Boudou since 25 March 1996. The couple have adopted two girls from Vietnam: Jade Odette Désirée, born 3 August 2004 (formerly Bui Thi Hoa), in November 2004, and Joy (Maï-Huong), born 27 July 2008, in December 2008. He also has three grandchildren through his son David; their names are Emma, llona and Cameron.
Hallyday supported Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 French presidential election. The Masked Avengers referenced this in their prank call to American vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin when an Avenger impersonating Sarkozy named Hallyday as his “Special American Advisor”.
In July 2009, Hallyday was diagnosed with colon cancer, and underwent surgery. On 26 November 2009, Hallyday underwent surgery in Paris to repair a herniated disc. He suffered complications and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Doctors announced that they had put Hallyday into a medically-induced coma so they could repair lesions that had formed as a result of the surgery, and to relieve his pain. On 17 December, Hallyday and his wife started legal proceedings against Dr. Stephane Delajoux, who had performed the original surgery. The conflict was resolved in February 2012 following Delajoux’s vindication by medical investigators.
Films
Les parisiennes (1962) as Jean Allard
D’où viens-tu Johnny? (1963) as Johnny (but not Hallyday)
Cherchez l’idole (1963) as himself
À tout casser (fr) (1968) as Frankie
Le Spécialiste (1969) as Hud / Brad
Point de chute (1970) as Vlad Le roumain
L’aventure c’est l’aventure (1972) as himself
L’Animal (1977) as himself
The Case of the Missing Bottle (1983) as Monsieur Waitor
Détective (1984) directed by Jean-Luc Godard as Jim Fox Warner
Terminus (1987) as Stump
The Iron Triangle (1989) as Jacques
La gamine (1991) as Frank Matrix
Why Not Me? (1999) as José
Love Me (2000) as Lennox
L’homme du train (The Man on the Train) (a.k.a. Man on the Train in the US) (2002) as Milan
Crime Spree (2003) as Marcel Burot
Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse (2004) as L’ermite borgne
Quartier V.I.P. (2005) as Alex
Jean-Philippe (2006) as Jean-Philippe
Vengeance (2009) as Francis Costello
The Pink Panther 2 (2009) as Laurence Millikin
He has had a 48-year career in music and is one of France’s biggest stars. He has completed 400 tours, had 18 platinum albums, performed in front of 15 million people, and sold 100 million records.
The very popular Halliday was mainly known in Europe more than any where else.
Influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock revolution, Johnny, as he is popularly known, became famous in the 1960s for singing rock and roll in French.
He appeared on the American Ed Sullivan Show on July 1, 1962 with American singing star Connie Francis in a show that was taped at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris.
Hallyday announced his retirement from performing on 3 December 2007 at the age of 64.
Death
Hallyday died of lung cancer on 6 December 2017 in Marnes-la-Coquette, near Paris, at the age of 74. The French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, saying he “transcended generations and is etched in the memory of every Frenchman”.[35]. Belgian prime-minister Charles Michel said “we all had at least one of his songs that came to our mind this morning. An immensely beloved artist has left us, who will live on for generations to come. His music and personality will be forever in our memories.” In honor of the rock legend, the city of Brussels will interfere its Christmas light show at the Grand Place to play songs of Johnny Hallyday instead, on the evening of 6 December. Brussels’ metro will play his songs all day long on 7 December 2017.
Albums include
Hello Johnny (1960)
Nous les Gars, Nous les Filles (1961)
Tête a Tête avec Johnny (1961)
Salut les Copains! (1961)
Johnny Hallyday sings America’s Rockin’ Hits (1962)
Les Bras en Croix (1963)
Les Rocks les Plus Terribles (1964)
Halleluyah (1965)
Johnny Chante Hallyday (1965)
La Génération Perdue (1966)
Johnny 67 (1967)
Jeune Homme (1968)
Rêve et Amour (1968)
Rivière Ouvre ton Lit (1969)
Vie (1970, Philips)
Flagrant Délit (1971)
Country-Folk-Rock (1972)
Insolitudes (1973)
Je t’Aime, Je t’Aime, Je t’Aime (1974)
Rock’n Slow (1974)
Rock a Memphis (1975)
La Terre Promise (1975)
Derrière l’Amour (1976)
Hamlet (1976)
C’est la Vie (1977)
Solitudes a Deux (1978)
Hollywood (1979, Philips)
À Partir de Maintenant… (1980)
En Pièces Détachées (1981)
Pas Facile (1981)
Quelque Part un Aigle (1982)
La Peur (1982)
Entre Violence et Violon (1983)
Hallyday 84: Nashville en Direct (1984)
En V.O. (1984)
Rock’n’Roll Attitude (1985)
Gang (1986)
Cadillac (1989)
Ça Ne Change Pas un Homme (1991)
Rough Town (1994)
Lorada (1995)
Ce Que Je Sais (1998)
Sang pour Sang (1999)
À la Vie, a la Mort (2002)
Ma Vérité (2005)
Le Coeur d’un homme (2007)